Can I have some tips for expressing please?

[MamaG]

OK, so I'm being a bit previous given that BabyG is only 4 months old, but when I start to wean him I'm going to need milk aren't I? To mix with baby rice?

Other two DC were FF by that stage but its going to well with BabyG that I see no reason to stop BF just because he's 6 months old (much to MIL's horror !)

I have always had trouble expressing (with all three children) and have never been successful. Have tried an Avent pump and it just makes me sore with a few pathetic drips!

Can you tell me how to hand express?

TIA

Hi MamaG

You may need bm if you want to do baby rice, but if you're waiting 'til 6 months there's no real need to do mush. See babyledweaning.com for some info, although it very depends on what you, and BabyG, fancies doing ime. With two older DCs you'll know that what works for one doesn't work for all!

However, you asked about expressing not about weaning! This is from kellymom.com:

Hand expression

Many women find that hand expression is an efficient way to pump when only occasional expression is required. In fact, when the milk production is not abundant (as in the first few days), it is often easier to get milk with hand expression than with a pump and many women find this the easiest way to express mature milk as well.

• Place thumb and index finger on either side of the nipple, about 3 to 5 cm (1-2 inches) back from the nipple.
• Press gently inward toward the rib cage.
• Roll fingers together in a slight downward motion.
• Repeat all around the nipple if desired.

I would also add the following, if you've had a bit of trouble with expressing in the past:

1. Don't underestimate the difference that feeling relaxed about it can make. Not always easy with other DCs about, but when you try for the first time, see if you can find a quiet ten minutes and settle yourself somewhere comfy.
2. Warmth can help with let-down - warm flannel on your breast, even try in the bath.
3. Looking at a picture of your baby, the baby itself or closing your eyes and visualising him latching on and nursing can help with let-down too (it was this one that cracked it for me - I only got dribbles before I tried this, and after it started to work I went back to a pump with great success)

Also - if you are doing it by hand, gently massaging your breast, and then using your fingers to 'comb' towards the nipple, all around the breast, before trying to actually get any milk.

Oh - and you might want to try in the bath or shower first anyway, so you can get an idea of what directions you squirt in and how strong your let-down is! I only needed a little cup but some people need a large bowl for milk wrangling!

Hope some of that helps

Not hand expressing MamaG But it will act as a bump for you in any case

I have my avent pump in one hand (and on 1 boob) and the phone in the other and I am reading Mumsnet (with the 3rd? )
And its only the 3rd bottle Ive expressed.

If you are keen to use baby rice (and it is optional!) you can mix it with water.

have you experimented with different pumps? I've get much more milk with a double electric pump (Avent Isis duo) than with any other (I also have a Madela swing (single) and a Tommee Tippee hand pump which I find it much more difficult and much slower to express the same amount.

Thanks all. I think I need to re-look at weaning, this time. I was always told to start with baby rice and then move onto other stuff but as some have said, thats not set in stone is it?

Hi MamaG

You'll know what's right for you and BabyG when it comes to it, but hey, have you tasted baby rice? It's !

As far as I understand it, baby rice and other porridgey stuff of that ilk was designed when weaning was recommended at 4 months and so sloppy/pureed food was a must, and when it was thought that babies should have bland food. Now the guidelines say 6 months, pureeing isn't actually necessary, although an awful lot of people still do it for all sorts of reasons. And, I think this is right (I know lots of people will jump on me if I've got it wrong ) we now know babies have loads more tastebuds than adults and, in tests, have shown a preference for stronger/more distinctive tasting foods. But that definitely isn't a 'you should do this' thing, just an 'isn't it interesting and gives us extra choices' bit of info!

And of course, BabyG will make his own preferences abundantly clear I'm sure, whenever and with whatever you start him on .

And just to prove, again, how different we all are, I sold my Medela pump and only ever got on with a Tommy Tippee one, but I only had to express once a day and get a couple of ounces for DP to use at the weekend or my odd night out, so speed and quantity weren't that desperate.

Good luck with it all! Let us know how you get on.

ITs very hard when advice changes. 9 years ago with DD, it was wean onto puree at 4 months and the same with DS1 5 years ago. Its difficult to get past that, when its firmly ingrained in your head

I do feel a stab of anxiety when I consider BLW

MamaG, so do lots of people, particularly if they have older kids they weaned as per the guidelines at the time. Do you remember when you started to give your older DCs finger food? It may well have been at around 6-7 months, as I believe that was recommended when the weaning age was taken to be 4 months. You don't have to do a 'blw or nowt' approach if it makes you anxious. There are lots of mix and match ways of finding what suits you. BLW is about lots of things; taste, texture etc but also about putting the baby in control of the quantity they eat and gives them a choice about what. So, you could give a babe a bit of something on a spoon (or give them a loaded up spoon to deal with themselves - messy, but fun!) and also give them chunks of the same thing to play with.

Of course some kids love to do the baby bird thing and insist on having food shoveled in; others won't let anyone else put anything in their mouth at all (my DD was the latter) so you could have the choice made for you!

I know the thing that worries most BLWers at some point is the quantity (or rather lack of it) that their baby is eating, but guidelines (yep, more of 'em!) now say that all babies, whether bf or ff, should be getting most of their calories from milk until they're 1yr. So, if you offer milk first, or as the 'priority' nutrient (and lots of people start off by separating milk feeds and solid feeds so the babe isn't too full of one to have the other) you can be pretty sure your baby is getting enough, along with all the usual checks of number of wet/dirty nappies, general health etc. And BM is as high in calories as you can get, apart from avocado .

There's a very quickly growing body of personal experience on mumsnet and elsewhere on the internet if you want to follow it up. I'm not a purist. BLW worked brilliantly for us but it doesn't sit well with everyone.

HTHs and if you want to ask anything else don't hesitate...

I didn't get on well with expressing either.The same breast that can feed a huge baby/toddler cant produce enough to cover the bottom of the expressing bottle

so i just did BLW to save all the faff [lazy mum emoticon]

another vote for not bothering to express and avoiding baby rice. Even if you don't want to go the BLW route there are plenty of other mushy foods that you can give without the faff of expressing. The only time I ever used baby rice was to thicken up food that was too mushy/liquid for easy feeding.

Thanks a lot all, mij thats a really helpful post. Sorry I missed it yest!